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Is the new MAC's system truly crash proof?

Cadkiller

Cadkiller

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 13, 2004
48
0
Group;

I hear many people say that the new MAC's operating system is crash proof. Is this really true? Does it ever lock up on you guys? Has it ever crashed on any of you guys? I would like to especially hear from the ones that use a CAD system on a MAC.

Thanks;
Cadkiller
 
No it is not crash proof. The OS has been known to Kernel Panic from time to time. Usually though this is because of a 3rd party device. For instance when I first got my Maxtor External Firewire drive the system would crash whenever I plugged the drive in. I got drivers from Maxtors web site, installed them, and it crashed no more. So for most people Kernel Panics are easily fixed and never happen again (until you get some new hardware). There are a few random people who have constant Kernel panics but most likely their actual computer hardware from Apple needs fixing and they just haven't admitted it yet... then there are some in between that it just happens to and nobody knows why.

Programs can crash too but this will almost never result in a full system stop. My iBook which I've had for a year now has had maybe 2 Kernel Panics (aside from the Maxtor HD issue I had) and I might have a program crash... once or twice every other week... I also leave my Mac on all the time and it only reboots for patches... soooo... yeah. Everybody will tell you something different though.
 
I have had my imac for about 2-3 weeks now. The only time it has ever kinda crashed on me was when using Adium and it just 'unexpectedly quit', it is a third party app anyway.
My system has never properly locked up or played silly buggers to date, i am well pleased and such a nice contrast to our family Dell.
So in my case no it hasn't crashed and is a lot more reliable than our Dell Xp...but it is not crash proof.
 
before someone flames you its spelled Mac not MAC

everything can crash, including OS X, however i have found that OS X is much more stable, and if an app crashes it doesnt bring down the system, but my system has never completely frozen up on me to the point that i had major problems, i have had to do maybe one force boot, but thats about all, as long as the OS has enough ram i think you should be fine, i know i need more but cant afford it right now
 
Cadkiller said:
Group;

I hear many people say that the new MAC's operating system is crash proof. Is this really true? Does it ever lock up on you guys? Has it ever crashed on any of you guys? I would like to especially hear from the ones that use a CAD system on a MAC.

Thanks;
Cadkiller
Click to expand...

I dont know, the MAC on my network card never crashes, it always stays the exact same series of numbers.

Now if your asking about a Mac (like the computer) nothing is crash proof, but its based on UNIX which has been around for 30+ years.
 
I have yet to have a crash :: fingers crossed :: and this is using heavy duty applications. CAD have not used it on my Mac, though have used other 3D applications and have to say the only time it does crash is if there is low system memory other than that have yet to see one off chance if I have ample system memory. :)
 
If you use a mac, you'll probably become familiar with "unexpectedly quit" dialogue boxes. They're not common, but do happen often enough that you'll get used to them. The computer and the rest of your programs will continue to run perfectly, and all you'll need to do is relaunch the program that "unexpectedly quit." Some users get a "kernel panic" where the whole system locks up and a restart is needed. I personally have never had this, and it generally only happens to users who make modifications to the OS.
 
Thanks to protected memory, applications can't crash the whole computer anymore (well, there are exceptions but that's a good enough definition). So applications are as good as their programmers-- if your CAD program is poorly written, it can crash, but the rest of your computer won't. The system can crash, but under optimal conditions (no bad hardware), it won't. It's been designed to deflect all but the most serious of software glitches.

Windows has gotten a lot better than it's 95/98 days, but in my experience with 2000, NT, ME, and XP, it's not as stable as the Mac OS is right now. I seriously doubt Longhorn will rectify this (whenever the damn thing comes out), considering the general ineptitude of MS programmers. Time will tell.

paul
 
No crash yet

I haven't run into any problems since I used 10.2 and 10.3. So no OS crash for over a year. Apps crashed yes...but rarely.
 
I can verify that if you bugger with the system (not just using regular apps) during an OS upgrade, you can crash the system. I got to re-install the OS for that one.

In normal use, I've yet to crash the OS. I've crashed plenty of software - but the OS keeps on going. Quit, or Force Quit the app, restart the app, keep on going.
 
The only time I've had an imac just flat lock up is when I was trying to get AOL to work. Other than that.. once in awhile, get the unexpectly quit dialogue.. and it almost always is involving AOL.
 
I have been using Vectorworks for a few weeks. A friend gave me a copy of it. I've been doing some pretty complicated stuff without any problem, not even any speed issues.

Overall, I've had my Mac for 3 or 4 months and it hasn't crashed once. I'm extremely satisfied, and all the stuff I read on MacRumors and SpyMac was true, OS X is simply amazing.
 
Maya;

They have a CAD program designed to run on a Mac.
It's called Vector Works.
I really hope Autodesk gets into the Mac thing.
I gather it is crash resistant.

PS: My daugthers name is Maya. Very nice name!

Thanks;
Cadkiller
 
I have been running Mac OS X on my dual 450 G4 since January. Currently have Mac OS 10.3.6. No crash of my Mac yet. My only problem has been Entourage with its numerous I-92 errors, which occur at least 3 times each use. Which require a force quit.
 
The only time I can remember actually locking up my mac running 10.3.x was with a development release of BitPim (0.7.22), a wonderful program that is however not ready for the consumer-level light of day. It was mostly my fault too probably, as I was conecting and disconnecting unsupported phones via USB with reckless abandon. Even then, I can't remember if I actually had to restart, or just deal with an extended hang and some funny business.

In short, my years on OS X have been remarkably trouble-free. Back in the day, maybe with 10.0.x, 10.1.x, etc. I probably had a crash once in a while, but lately I have no reason to complain. Load up the RAM and the Mac is a happy place.
 
Since owning a Mac, about two years and change now, I have had exactly one kernel panic and one total freeze, for a total of two system crashes. Applications have crashed a bit more often; for example Mozilla and Camino would both crash when I sent mail in AOL (Safari doesn't though).

So I'd say that barring hardware issues, a Mac running OS X is a very stable system, and well-written apps should be stable as well.
 
i get crashes somewhat frequently, i think im just hard on computers. my general uptime b/w crashes is between ten and twelve days. i usually have a kernal panic, though just two days ago i had a serious system crash where finder stoped functioning and the entire computer froze. nothing is perfect, but it beats a windows machine that i usually have to re-boot or recover from a crash multiple times a day!!!!! (under heavy work conditions)
 
Crashed the first time I reinstalled OSX on my PM then never crashed again.
Once WoW was stuck in a stupid loop/freeze and nothing could fix it but eventually the OS managed to grab the system back and closed the application. So far OSX has proven to be very stable.

If I compare it to the windows machine I also use a work, its a joke. I am on a window network and the mac has less problem than the window system!

Just a small story: last weekend I was in a party talking to a guy who own a pc technician company and he admit that the only reason why he loves windows is because it is problem prone which allow him to make a living! I find this kind of attitude totaly scandalous!

To be back on topic, I use Maya often and it crashed a few times (2-3) but never affected the system. I just had to restart it and everything was fine.
 
There are four times my Mac has "crashed":

1) I tried to use a Logitech Quickcam Express. Obviously a PC-only camera. Kernal Paniced me.

2) For kicks, one day I decided I would UNDERCLOCK my videocard. Scrambled the image on-screen and froze the computer. Had to reboot.

3) Times when I overload the system. It's not often, but I may have iTunes open, ripping a CD and playing, Folding@Home going, bittorrent going, and then safari with like 50 tabs open, among other stuff. It happens VERY VERY rarely, but I've done it once or twice. I try to multitask too much.

4) Games sometimes give me problems. Also not often, but it's happened.

All in all, if you Mac "crashes", it's often not something problemmatic, and after rebooting will be fixed.
 
I can get anything to crash. :p

Well, except my car so far... ;)

Anyways, if you really care about having a rock-solid system, don't run Azureus (a BitTorrent client), as that app has caused most off my problems in the last 6-8 months. Luckily, v2.2.0.0 has been great so far :D
 
app crashes happen if the app is coded badly. i have found that macs only crash taking the system down when something hardware related like bad ram or a overheating cpu, compared to windows where it happens due to a messed up registry
 
Yes, I think so

I've had an iBook, an iMac, and an eMac in the past two years, and OS X has never crashed on me once. I've had Microsoft Word crash maybe two times in that period, but never have I needed to restart the system. However, I think more importantly than crashes, which are somewhat rare even on Windows machines, is that OS X continues to work no matter what you do with it. On Windows XP, for example, the system may not technically crash, but once I start installing more and more programs (including AutoCAD, for the topic creator, and Mathcad and SPICE), and try to run 5 or 6 of them at a time, your system will start doing strange things. Windows won't draw correctly, things will start to slow down to a crawl, individual programs crash and never seem to release system resources. These things don't happen on OS X. It always amazes me when I have to use Windows how much more stable OS X is.
 
Yes...

Since we don't use Mac OS X in cars, just the iPods -- the OS should be virtually eliminated as the cause of any crash, though any computer equipment is likely to suffer damage.

This is unlike Windows, which is at the heart of some new vehicles and thus likely to be blamed for some crashes sooner or later.

;)
 
before someone flames you its spelled Mac not MAC

My main MAC is a G5 MAC, and I have 4 other MACs; a G4 IlBook MAC, a titanium Powerbook MAC, a DP G4 MAC tower and an iMac.
Of COURSE they crash on occasion, some MACs more than other MACS. My G5 Tower MAC is about perfect; one crash since I had it. My g4 MAC never crashes, and neither does the AlBook MAC. My daughters iMAC crashes a LOT, but she plays those 256-color OS9 games a LOT.
Computers = Crash. Got that, MAC? :)
 
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